Cerebrospinal Pulsation Hydrodynamics in a 2D Simulation of Brain Ventricles

In this article, dynamics of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was studied, using computational fluid dynamics. Using MRI images of two special cases, a 2-dimensional model of the ventricular system was made. CSF velocity and pressure distribution in ventricular system have high importance since the flow pattern of this liquid has an important effect on intracranial pressure, i.e., ICP, which has a key role in treatment of patients suffering from brain trauma. The pulsatile nature of CSF production, which is a result of arterial blood pressure in choroid plexuses, is considered for the first time. Finite element analysis of ventricular area with CFD analyzer software was processed using ADINA 8.2. Pressure distribution in different conditions of CSF production, i.e., constant input flow rate and pulsatile input flow rate, were compared. Comparison between the simulation results and reported experimental data depicted that modeling CSF with pulsatile production nature is more realistic.